Record 58 Million Traveled Through Houston's Airports in '18

Published Mar 25, 2019 by A.J. Mistretta

A record 58.2 million people traveled through the Houston airports in 2018, a 7.6% increase over 2017.

It’s the first time the passenger count at Houston’s two passenger airports topped 58 million. The combined traffic at George Bush Intercontinental Airport and William P. Hobby Airport included a new record 46.5 million domestic passengers and an all time high of nearly 11.8 million international passengers.

“The growing passenger numbers at both of Houston’s commercial airports is a result of great partnerships and testimony to all that our city has to offer both business and leisure travelers,” said Houston Aviation Director Mario Diaz.

Hobby Airport set records in overall passengers served — nearly 14.5 million in 2018, a 7.7% increase over 2017 and topping the 14 million mark for the first time — as well as records in domestic passengers with 13.4 million, a 7.1% increase over 2017, and international passengers with 1.02 million, a 16.3% increase. In fact, Hobby’s 2018 domestic passenger number alone is higher than the record 13.4 million of combined domestic and international passengers served in 2017.

Bush Airport saw a record 43.8 million passengers overall in 2018, a 7.6% increase over 2017, and that included a record 33.1 million domestic passengers, an 8.9% increase over 2017 and more than the previous high mark of 32.4 million in 2015. Bush served 10.7 million international passengers in 2018, a 3.7% increase over 2017 and second only to the record 10.8 million international passengers served in 2016.

Houston’s airports offer nonstop flights to 189 destinations around the world. Here’s a breakdown by region: